Extreme Weather on the Rise, Likely to Get Worse, Says Report
February 28 — The world has experienced unusually extreme weather in recent decades, and economic losses from storms and other catastrophes have increased tenfold, an independent research group reported Thursday. (Associated Press, Environment News Network)

Shiny Blue Ice Clouds Becoming More Abundant at the Edge of Space
February 26 — At the edge of space ? the same cold region where space shuttle Columbia broke up into a trail of debris ? shiny, silvery blue clouds have been hovering. (ABC News)

A New Tool to Measure Hurricane Winds
February 26 — Researchers have certified a new tool to measure wind speeds at the sea's surface during a hurricane from the relative safety of an aircraft flying thousands of feet overhead. (Scripps Howard News Service)

Methane Eruptions Could Fuel Global Warming
February 26 — New research suggests that warming oceans could cause "intense eruptions" of methane from the sea floor, leading to "catastrophic" global warming. (Environment News Service)

Satellites Help Monitor Warming Coral Reefs
February 26 — Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are using satellite data to monitor the long term effects of heat stresses on several coral reefs throughout the world. (Environment News Service)

Can Carbon Sequestration Solve Global Warming?
February 25 — A Scientist questions the U.S. Government?s decision to spend millions of dollars to research the feasibility of stuffing carbon dioxide into coal seams and fields of briny water deep beneath the Earth. (SpaceDaily)

Predicting the Climate of the 21st Century
February 25 — Warming land and ocean surfaces, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and other recent evidence strongly suggest that Earth's climate is already changing rapidly because of the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to Warren Washington, senior scientist and head of the Climate Change Research Group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). (SpaceDaily)

Global Warming Driving Pika Losses
February 25 — The pika - a small mammal that makes its home on the talus slopes of western mountains in North America - may be one of the first animals to fall victim to global warming, new research suggests. (Environment News Service)

Flash Floods Replace Dust Storms in Eastern Australia
February 24 — Torrential weekend downpours in eastern Australia are boosting hopes that the worst drought in 100 years is on its way out. (New Scientist)

Melting Snow Could Trigger Earthquakes
February 24 — Melting snow could trigger earthquakes, says a geophysicist who has been studying quake records from the inland mountains of Japan.

Scientists Heading into Hills to Glean Data from Snowpack
February 21 — More than 60 scientists on skis, snowmobiles and airplanes will head into the Colorado Rockies today in a NASA-led effort to gain more accurate snowpack measurements and better predictions of spring water supplies. (Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post, SpaceFlight Now)

Synthetic Trees Could Purify Air
February 20 — A scientist has invented an artificial tree designed to do the job of plants. (BBC)

Global Warming Fight Going Underground?
February 19 — Researchers at an Australian government-funded science organization are investigating the possibility of burying up to 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of carbon dioxide to help solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. (CNN)

Bad Economy Helps Clear the Air
February 18 — A poor economy and high electricity costs in the West have produced an unusual environmental bonus, the government says: In 2001, emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases declined for the first time in a decade. (CNN)

Climate and Cholera Link Growing
February 18 — The link between climate and cholera, a serious health problem in many parts of the world, has become stronger in recent decades. (Environment News Service)

NASA Goes On-Line With Extra-Tropical Storm Tracks
February 17 — Scientists working with NASA have created a free online atlas that shows extra-tropical storm tracks between 1961 and 1998. (SpaceDaily)

Rising Sea Levels Could Swamp Boston
February 17 — The low lying city of Boston could be flooded by rising sea levels due to global warming. (Environment News Service)

Climate Affects Crop Yield Gains
February 17 — Scientists have found that climate trends significantly affect corn and soybean yields. (SpaceDaily)

Scientists Observe High-Level Moisture with Global Implications
February 12 — Hard-to-detect clouds and water vapor, hidden until now from most atmospheric sensors, could be helping to shape global climate. (SpaceDaily)

Nanotechnology Could Save the Ozone Layer
February 11 — Whilst experimenting with nanospheres and perfluorodecalin, a liquid used in the production of synthetic blood, researchers at Germany's University of Ulm have stumbled across a phenomenon that could ultimately help remove ozone-harming chemicals from the atmosphere. (SpaceDaily)

Sand Chokes Life from Australia's Drought-Stricken Rivers
February 11 — One quarter of rivers in southern Australia are choked with sand where once there were deep pools and rocky bars. (SpaceDaily)

English Gardens Endangered by Warming?
February 10 — As global warming intensifies, the English country garden as we know it may soon be a thing of the past, concludes a report issued under the auspices of the United Kingdom Climate Impacts Program. (National Geographic Today)

Asian Pollution Cloud Changing Climate, Study Says
February 10 — A toxic blend of soot, ash, acids and other airborne particles from Asia crosses borders and oceans-polluting faraway places and affecting climate, rainfall and causing acid rain. (National Geographic Today)

Satellite Sees Earthquake Effects
February 7 — A NASA satellite is giving scientists a new perspective on the effects of a major 2001 earthquake in Northern India near the border of Pakistan. (UPI, ScienceDaily)

El Niño Appears to be Weakening
February 6 — The El Niño weather phenomenon, which has influenced the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season and US fall and winter weather, appears to be weakening, scientists said Thursday. (CNN)

Warming Oceans Linked to Four Year Drought
February 4 — Ocean conditions created by a warming climate may be behind droughts across the U.S., southern Europe and southwest Asia over the past four years. (Environment News Service, UPI)

Global Warming May Worsen Mercury Pollution-UN
February 2 — Mercury pollution must be tackled before global warming exacerbates its noxious effects, the United Nations warned yesterday. (Planet Ark)

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